Friendships and Hardships
by Stewthewriter1
Summary: A young recruit to the MNU security services working in District 9 meets a helpless alien family and strikes up a relationship. But he also has to contend with a unit hell bent on destroying all non-humans and his own torn loyalties.
1. Chapter 1

Friendships and Hardships

Chapter 1-Starters

I am woken from the nicest dream I have had in years to the sound of my mobile phone alarm summoning me from the depths of unconsciousness to another day in work.

Jesus Christ why does it always do that to me?

I glance across the covers at my beautiful new girlfriend Myra and thank my lucky stars I met her, barely a few months ago in Cape Town before I came here. I laugh when I think that she was so hopelessly in love with me (I know funny isn't it?) that she followed me to Johannesburg...

I look at the sunlight streaming in through our bedroom window. Oddly, despite my earlier mood, it feels good to be finally in Johannesburg and working.

Work beckons now so I kiss Myra goodbye and prepare myself for the day ahead. First stop the bathroom for a shave and then I throw on some jogging bottoms and a T-shirt with trainers. Exiting our house, I am eating a piece of toast on the way out and step into a sumptuous Randberg morning. When I first came here I thought the place was a bit snooty, a little bit like Sandton up the road. But in time I have come to like it here. 'Welcome to Suburbia' Randburg screams at you from every nook and cranny!

Passing through on my way downtown, I stop at a convenience store for a newspaper and then get on the N1 motorway through Ferndale as far as the Diepkloof turnoff. From here it is not a million miles downtown to my workplace.

'MAYHEM AND MURDER IN HOUGHTON ESTATE' shouts the headline from the Times of Johannesburg paper as I glance across to the passenger seat. I also catch sight of my helmet poking out of my gym bag. 'MNU' is emblazoned across it in large white letters.

I am into my sixth week working as a Field Security Operative for Multi-National United within their District 9 alien holding zone and the surrounding areas.

That's right you heard me right: an _alien _holding zone for about one million outer space immigrants! My gaze drifts upwards above the towers of the city to the lumbering spacecraft which perpetually hovers above Johannesburg, decaying away...

'It's the worst thing that ever happened to South Africa and Johannesburg' my mum used to say.

'Rubbish, look at all the tourists and scientists it has brought!' retorted my dad.

'And what good have either of them done for the aliens?' said mum.

'Well at least they haven't blown the place up with lasers and...' I offered into the discussion, looking up from my action figures.

Both of my parents gave me a hard "you are just a stupid child" sort of look. Then my dad ruffled my hair.

'That only happens in movies and besides, these things are too stupid to turn on us now after what we have done for them. They need us!'

Dad was employed by MNU in a department known as the Non-Human Psychological Studies Division.

'We take them in, dissect their puny intelligences and try and figure what the hell is going on' he used to tell me when I went to bed.

'Are they clever, like you or mum?' I asked.

'No not really, they seem to enjoy being slaves and being told what to do although one or two of them I have met seem to be intelligent. Mostly though they are bad, very bad'

I had to laugh at dad for saying that, he hadn't a clue what was to transpire in the years to come. Bad wasn't the word for subsequent human-alien relations: rioting, acts of theft, vandalism and arson, child abduction, murder, bank robbery...

The aliens had a predilection for violence when upset and could only be reasoned with equal amounts of force, I was told.

'Dirty and dangerous' was a popular phrase used in the 1990's to describe them.

'You see one, you run and it's as simple as that' an old school teacher of mine used to say in class.

I pull into the parking lot outside MNU headquarters and enter the hi-tech glass-and-metal construct. I took an elevator down to an underground portion of the facility. For some reason, all security personnel working in the city and District 9 were based here, a fair old distance from the action. Still it suited me with all the mod cons we experienced.

'Welcome Michael Sanders' a smooth computerised voice announced as I pressed my palms onto a security reader. I stepped past the security station and entered our barracks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-Acquaintances Only

'Hey it's the hero of Helicopter Hell' yelled a tall guy with bronze coloured skin and close cropped hair as I walked in.

'How are you doing Mike?'

'Um ok thanks Billy, you are not still going on about...'

'Yup that was a damn fine thing you did son!'

Billy 'The Mouth' Freegiter was exactly as his name suggested: a nice guy with a BIG mouth.

'Helicopter Hell' referred to an incident last week where a commanding officer of ours was shot down in his chopper above District 9 by some weird new alien weapon and my rescue of him from the burning wreckage.

'Want to get me a bunch of those guns and sell them on EBay' Billy had told me.

Some of the other members of the team could be found milling in the barrack block; Johnny Price, Martha Keenan, Thimbu Sawed, Paul Klosters and Max Finnegan.

'Better get suited up and ready for briefing' the only female member of the team, Martha Keenan, said.

I looked at myself and thought, yeah I should really.

In minutes I had put on my combat gear on and we stepped into the briefing room. It was a guy from First Reaction Battalion giving us a talk, again. I had no idea of his name except to say that he was a Colonel, bald and had a mean goatee!

'Good job with the helicopter rescue' he began 'unfortunately it may be the first of many planned attacks against MNU assets. I think we can all agree that the prawns are bolder by the day and are stepping things up'

He paused to consider his notes.

'First Reaction Battalion receives more in-district calls for support than ever before. So mark my words, they are losing their inhibitions and some of the stuff the prawns are packing we have to watch out asses out there!'

'You are right about that Colonel' said Thimbu Sawed 'just this last week we have had to round up more escapees than normal'

'Exactly Private and if they have the balls to hop over or under the fence, then we have to shoot those balls off! We can't have any more of our people being blasted to atoms!'

Each of them recalled what happened to MNU trooper Chris Madsen a week ago; surprised while on foot patrol and wiped from existence by one of the aliens energy guns.

Or so they said anyway...

'While out there I want you all to look after each other and watch your own backs, remember they hate us and we definitely hate them and so the stakes are getting higher! That's all, dismissed'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Patrol Time 

From the briefing room I head down into the basement to rendezvous with my weapons and sign out for a vehicle. Rows of converted 'Hilux' 4x4's greet me in the basement, all heavy weaponry and armour. They are incredible to drive and go some way to making you feel safe.

Then I feel the vibration of a text message, it is from Myra:

'LOVE U BABES, COME HOME SAFELY XXXX'

I had told her about what happened to Madsen and since then she had been panicky about my continuing in this job.

'Don't worry Myra, I will be fine' I told her.

I cradle my CR-21 assault rifle as the armourer hands it over and I also get a handgun too for 'self protection'

'You ready champ?' says Paul Klosters, ambling towards me 'thought you would want to drive'

'Somehow I knew you might say that' I quipped.

Paul hated driving with a passion, preferring to ride 'shotgun' often literally, so that 'I can get a good shot at any fucking prawn who even looks at me the wrong way'

'Was a piece of shit what they did to Chris right Mike?' Paul said as he stepped into the Hilux 'a real tragedy for Sherrie Madsen and her kids'

'Yeah of course Paul, I mean a widow at thirty two and...'

'Those motherfucking prawns don't know what's heading their way man a lot of guys are talking about taking DIRECT action. You know like fuck MNU, let's do it ourselves'

This was news to me.

I gunned the engine and pulled the vehicle out of the gloomy parking garage and into the bright sunshine of a Johannesburg summer.

'You mean like vigilante type stuff?'

'That's the one, like in the movies and shit. No laser gun is going to stop us!'

'Come on Paul, I mean seriously?'

He looks at me like I have taken a shit on his wife or something.

Traffic is light and the radio chatters away happily, filling in the silences.

Paul hums away to himself but then stops abruptly when he sees something.

'He what the fuck is he doing back?' he cusses to no one 'pull in here my man!'

I can see a prawn...sorry non-human, standing at the street corner selling things as a vendor.

'Bloody hell that's Marcus...' I blurt out.

'Who the hell is he? Oh never mind come on let's get him!'

Paul runs like an excitable kid and I hear him shouting at the black coloured alien, who looks terrified.

'All right fuck face what are you doing back, I expressly told you no vending your shit round here!' Paul has the CR-21 out and pointed up at the taller alien, who raises his arms.

'I didn't mean to...well its only cat food and bottle tops...' it clicks.

Paul smashes the makeshift stall clean with the butt of his rifle, clattering the goods to the ground. The alien goes to pick it up but a well aimed kick from Paul knocks him back. I catch up then.

'There you go' Paul is shouting 'now who the fuck is going to buy cat food and that other rubbish eh?'

'Hey Paul cool your jets we got a small disapproving crowd here' I say.

'Who gives a fuck I am trying to protect you people from these disgusting...creatures' Paul, now half-crazed, yells at them. He tosses a can of cat food at Marcus who is slowly rising onto all fours.

'Here eat this prawn and go nuts for these nice people, go on prove you can't be trusted outside of that shithole slum you live in'

Sure enough a small gathering has formed, heckling, shaking their heads and drawing out camera phones to film us.

'Ok everybody nothing to see here, move on...'

'There is everything to see here young man' an elderly black man says 'why can't you leave these poor beings alone, this one is only trying to make a living'

'RIGHT ON!' the crowd chants in unison.

The man, who I swear Paul wants to beat down along with the alien Marcus, tosses a handful of rand notes at the alien, who scoops them up like spilled jewels.

'Thank you' it chirps modestly.

'You clear off now!' I tell him 'and you let's go before we start a riot' I ask Paul, dragging him by the arm.

'You even think about coming back here I will rip your antenna off and shove them up your arse, get me?' Paul whispers to the alien.

'What the hell was that about, we are not even near District 9 yet' I practically shout at Paul.

'Our jurisdiction covers the city as well Mike, you know this, and that fucker is always there flouting the rules and getting the locals to feel sorry for him'

Paul was like a spoilt child.

'Rubbish you just wanted to have a go didn't you?'

'And so what if I did eh? You starting to turn into a prawn lover now are you?'

'No I just think we have to watch our step out here, not EVERYONE hates the non-humans like we do and MNU needs to do a lot of work patching up public relations right now. Remember Tanya Simms?'

'Yeah that fucking bitch'

Tanya Simms was a savvy journalist who had gone undercover and caught a group of MNU and police personnel harassing and beating up a family of non-humans, eventually torching them out of their condo in Hillbrow. Ironically Chris Madsen had been one of those men caught in the subsequent dragnet.

'That doesn't mean we let prawns like him take the piss out of us does it Mike? Besides, I don't see any journalists around do you?'

God his naivety was breathtaking.

'Paul do you really hate the aliens or is it because you get sucked into the bigotry of guys like Madsen?'

'Hey don't you use fucking use his name that way, respect him man!'

'Ok whatever'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-A Really Wrong Place

The approach road to the entry portal is simply a dusty track with nearby bunkers and guard towers providing over watch. You then descend a hidden ramp into a tunnel, where halfway along is a checkpoint.

The guard on duty today, Marlon, knows our faces and waves us through immediately. When you drive up the opposite ramp, you emerge into bright sunshine and are now inside District 9 itself.

'Place is like fucking paradise, gets better everyday' mutters Paul as a gaggle of aliens scatter at the sight of our vehicle.

He mockingly points his gun out of the window and makes a shooting sound.

In this sector of the district, a sprawling encampment housing a million plus migrants and about the size of small city, there is a ramshackle satellite base for MNU personnel. It is to here that I drive.

Parking up, we find Max Finnegan and Johnny Price already on site.

'Hey boys' says Johnny, a little too chirpy for my liking. Since we work twelve hour shifts I am sure he will be suitably fatigued by the end of the day.

'Sorry we are late' Paul offered 'had a bit of trouble on the way over'

'No problem, besides we are all here now Team 1-A, the best of the best!'

Max Finnegan, with proclamations like that, was slightly weird. In fact I had always reckoned he had a screw loose. The oldest serving member of the unit, perhaps working here had driven him nuts?

'Got lots of lovely aliens to look after too' he added.

Soon we had divided up the portions of the sector we would be looking to patrol.

'As you know things have been getting hairy around the district lately, just today the last shift caught one of them trying to bury a cache of weapons near a known escape point. Luckily for this grid specifically things have quietened down a bit' Johnny proclaimed in his usual droning way.

'That don't mean shit Johnny, could be the calm before an alien storm!' Paul replied.

I had to laugh a little then.

'Is there something funny to you Helicopter Hero-boy?' asked Max.

'Not really, but come on: one guy stashing a few ray guns doesn't mean there will be Armageddon! He was probably hiding it from the Nigerians as those guys try and steal shit like that all the time'

A few moments of silence passed.

'Even so' Max piped up finally 'we can't trust them for shit! And one less bunch of weapons off the scene will make me very happy indeed'

'Well how about the rest of us eh Max?' I said.

'Yeah don't want to be done like Madsen do we...'

Climbing into the Hilux I get another text from Myra.

'THINK I HAD BETTER GET ANOTHER TEST HONEY-JUST 2 B SURE X'

'Who's that your old lady again?' Paul asked.

'Yeah just worrying as usual'

'My girl has got no problem with me working here you know, says it's better and safer than working in Darfur or Iraq'

Before signing up with MNU, Paul had undertaken mercenary work all over Africa and other global hotspots. But nothing beat 'kicking alien asses' for a living (his first sentence when I met him).

As the district was laid out in a grid pattern (i.e. hundreds of shacks crammed together in one block and with bisecting dust tracks marking any borders) it made sense to traverse these pathways on our patrols.

We were generally there to provide security and order for the migrants but other duties could involve rounding up work dodgers, for example, who refused to report for the daily roll call nearby.

'I hear that Mario dude got fired from the meat processing plant because he kept eating all the produce!' Paul joked, referring to a particularly dim witted alien from this block.

'Hope Kanga and his boys turned HIM into mincemeat if you get my drift...' he went on.

Kanga was the local Nigerian warlord who with his demented twin brother reported to the head of the organisation at his main chop shop.

'Yeah alien burgers, a real treat for all of us! No fucking thanks!' I laughed.

'Ha you funny fucker Mike, you had us all thinking you were pro-prawn there for awhile'

'Nah I just don't go in with guns blazing Paul, you have to play this role smartly you know?'

'True what with all this shit around Tanya Simms and all'

'Exactly'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-Meet the Family

Our first job of the day was to find a non-human who lying in the middle of the road, 'drunk' on cat food or maybe it was rubber...

'Go on open this beast up then!' Paul asked, ever grateful for a chance to speed.

I raced to the location and sure enough the alien was still there. Somehow I recognised him as someone they called Casper.

'Hey fuck face get up' Paul prodded with his gun.

'Tell you what Paul why don't you do some crowd control and I will handle this?'

I watched him go and shoo away the onlookers. Oscar the alien had stirred by now.

'Please don't hurt me' he chirped.

'It's ok I won't hurt you...but I see you have lost it big time'

I held the tin of cat food up to his face.

'What would Jason say about this?' I prodded.

Paul yelled at us then.

'Hey Mr Chit Chat you going to moving him on or what?'

'Ok Paul keep your hair on'

'He would be sad I think' the alien mused.

I felt sad for him I must admit.

'Then go and sort yourself out somewhere' I whispered.

Back in the car Paul was on one.

'Can't believe you let him go like that, what they hell are you playing at Mike?'

'Look we don't have to beat up every prawn who steps over the line you know'

He seemed to go into a huffy silence.

'Whatever man, whatever'

Jesus he was like a kid!

I knew a lot of the non-humans could become hooked on cat food, like a narcotic.

We passed a dozen or so non-humans lying in the grass or begging with empty cat food tins as we drove past.

'Christ they came all the way from Planet Zed just to get wasted on cheap kitty food' Paul grumbled.

'Well that Kanga guy doesn't help, he sells it to them dirt cheap or in exchange for...well anything really'

'My heart bleeds, the way I see it he is on to a winner there, just look at them even fighting for the stuff!'

'Why aren't they working?'

'Oh we tried that remember, only a few of them ever managed to hold down a job. Just give me an industrial sized bottle of bug spray and boom bang!'

'Paul you are a really funny guy'

'You think man?'

No I didn't really.

Our in car radio alerted us to the next job.

'Fucking hell not again' I cursed before Paul could open his mouth.

Two aliens appeared to be fighting in a shallow pit, like gladiators. Both had improvised weapons. A large all-alien crowd watched proceedings, clutching bundles of money plus a couple of them had pit bull terrier dogs on tight leashes, to intimidate and threaten. It all seems like an entertaining way for a bunch of directionless beings to pass their time: then some of them see us and run away.

In amongst the violence and cheering, I see _her_ partially hiding behind a shack. She is curious yet frightened, with her big green eyes. Her name is Emily

The sound of Paul carelessly firing in the air seems a million miles away to me as a bigger alien, the brother of Emily, appears to grab her hand and motion her away. His name is Isaac.

'Mike for fucks sake what are you doing?' the angry voice of Paul jolts me to the present.

Without really thinking I too fire off a clip in the air. All of the aliens scuttle away except one, a red and orange coloured affair toting one of their blaster guns.

'Fuck off' it says 'this is our territory!'

'Not on your life man...'

But a blast of directed energy blasts the rifle out of Paul's hands before he can finish his sentence. He dives for the dirt and I get a shot at the fleeing alien, but he is gone.

Paul is sat up, shaking and cursing. He crawls over to the two pieces of his rifle, which are smoking and glow red at the edges.

'Jesus that was my favourite gun' he babbles 'they will take this out of my pay check for sure now!'

'At least you aren't in two pieces man'

'But that was close right? You see how quick he was...'

Had Paul lost some of his bravado at last?

I looked back to the shack where I last saw Emily and Isaac but they were gone now: safe I hoped.

'Get up Paul, let's go'

After writing our reports we resumed our patrol. Already the time was past six and dusk was drawing in soon.

'You know it's at night that this place really becomes interesting' I say to break the silence.

'How do you mean; we shut off the power and lock the place down'

'Yeah but then the prawns come out of hiding, fraternising and associating with one another'

'And the fucking criminals too: I know what they get up to but the question is how you know?'

'Instinct and some of the debris you find the next day...'

Paul laughed.

'Yeah I bet they have a fucking party every night when we leave!'

I smiled a bit myself.

'Listen the shift is going to be winding up soon so how about I drop you off at the base and then you get a lift back with Finnegan and company? I got a few bits of paper work to take care off'

'Sure Mike thanks for a good shift man, I am beat though'

I pulled the Hilux up to the front of the single storey building which served as our field headquarters. Finnegan and Price were relaxing out front, smoking and laughing.

'Hey guys, did you have a good day at the office?' I asked.

'Ha if you call mashing up crippled prawns under your wheels a good days work, then yeah!' Max replied laughing.

I often think he is a secret member of the Ossewabrandwag, a neo-Nazi organisation popular in the 80's but which died out when all human's united and hatred against the aliens mounted.

'Well we are going to get going Mike but see you tomorrow eh?' said Paul.

'Sure thing, take care boys'

I watched and waited for them to leave. It didn't take long before the rumbling sound of the Toyota engine faded away.

Good, time to move.

I knew where I was going, the shack with the fly posters and the surprisingly inoffensive 'ALIENS OUT' graffiti. This belonged to them...to little Emily and her family.

Nosing between the shacks, I could barely squeeze the Hilux through. The low rumbling of the engine frightened away a number of aliens and terrestrial night creatures, caught in my light beams. Out of some odd sense of respect I had shut off the headlights as I approached the location.

Before I got out of the vehicle I spotted a cadre of Nigerians doing their 'rounds' through the district, with prostitutes and heavily armed enforcers in tow.

'Evening Mr Mike' one of them said, a mouth full of gold teeth 'just chasing a few debts, know what I mean brother?'

It was one of Kanga's men I knew.

'Sure thing my man, sure thing'

I knew what 'chasing debts' meant and I knew some of our MNU boys were often involved in proceedings, utilising and fraternising with gangsters.

Fuck they were all dirty bastards and it was us who were labelled the 'civilised' ones? Sorry Dad but you were wrong...

I stepped up to the flimsy front door and lightly knocked three times; they would know who it was as they never had visitors.

The door opened a crack and from the soft light inside I saw Rosie, the big sister of Emily, peering out at me with bug like eyes but which were intelligent.

'Hello Michael Sanders, good human'

'Hey you, you had better let me in as there are some unsavoury Nigerians about!'

She stepped aside and I entered the shack. It was crowded as usual (try putting five aliens in a small shed and you will see what I mean)

Emily and Isaac were playing with a half-broken chess board, using stones as the pieces. Rosie took me by the hand and sat me down. Their 'father' Jason stood over an old stove, his back to me.

Another alien, Marcus, lay asleep on the floor. I am not surprised though, after his encounter with Paul earlier. I wanted to apologise, make it all right for him. But I knew he disliked me and hated humans generally.

Marcus would get jealous of his 'husband' Jason spending time with me. You see the aliens could be male or female and would often interchange their roles.

But in this family Jason was the father and Marcus was the mother.

'Welcome Michael Sanders' Jason chirped happily.

'Hey Jason, how's things?'

'Not bad at the moment but I was told of your friends dishonourable conduct this day against Marcus. Please sit though'

'Thanks but Paul Klosters is no friend of mine and I deplore what he does...'

'Then you will help me wipe him out'

I jumped as a firm hand grasped my shoulder. It was Marcus.

'Christ, please don't do that' I said, half-laughing.

Marcus seemed to have a good sense of humour and might have been laughing.

'You eat with us?' he said.

'I am good at the moment thank you'

The children had stopped playing and looked at me, like a pair of inquisitive praying mantises.

'What brings you here this night?' Jason asks.

'Just wanted to stop in on my favourite family' I reply.

I paused a beat as a helicopter searchlight stabbed the darkness outside, followed by small arms fire.

'Things are getting dangerous' commented Marcus 'the authorities are coming down harder on us'

'I know, ever since the helicopter crash...'

Marcus seemed to snicker again. I should have yelled at him for that but he had a point.

'You must control your people!' Jason snapped at Marcus.

I wondered who their 'people' were since I had not heard him say that before.

'You will bring the wrath of them on us' Isaac said innocently 'they beat my friend to death the other night'

Isaac was matter of fact in this. Perhaps he was used to it.

But I couldn't believe it, now goons like Paul and the others picked on KIDS too?

'On behalf of humanity I am sorry' I mumbled.

Rosie stretched out a small arm and placed it on my knee.

'We know you are a safe human Michael but others cannot be trusted and neither can some of our people who don't understand the situation fully'

Here I was, clad in MNU armour telling them I was sorry for the actions of 'humanity'

'You must go before your superiors suspect you' Jason asked, neither hostile nor friendly.

As I stood to leave I noticed a chalk drawing on one wall of the shack: it looked like a star chart, complete with galaxies and planets...

'One day' Marcus said to me.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-Dreams

That night I dreamt of star ships and alien worlds. I am on board a small craft whizzing through I don't know. I can't see anything but Rosie, Emily, Isaac and Marcus who are sat opposite and around me.

We are strapped into seats attached to the sides of the craft, which bumps along with Jason at the controls. All of a sudden the 'walls' disappear and I can see everything.

We fly low through canyons and low hills. I glance up and see a giant multi-coloured planet blocking out most of the sky above us, along with what looks like seven moons of varying sizes.

It is so beautiful.

We perform a series of manoeuvres and seem to land somewhere. It is a place surrounded by fencing and watchtowers, could it be District 9? But we are not in Johannesburg anymore...

I seem to have woken up as I am in a dark place now. But when I look for Myra I cannot find her.

It is really hot in this place and sticky too. My bedroom isn't normally this warm. I am walking now, seemingly ankle deep in some kind of gunk.

And the noise too, where have I heard that clicking and moaning before? I am disorientated now and I start to trip over the legs of...my god, aliens! Hundreds of them!

Do they notice me here?

Some appear to be dead while others are reaching out to me. I realise now that I must be on the mother ship in the time before they reached Johannesburg. God it seems to be huge like a massive metal cathedral.

But the vessel is cold dark and lifeless, even to a human. I check myself over just to make sure I am human, yes I am.

Edging backwards I finally reach a wall. Marcus is sleeping against the cold metal, a number of egg sacs pulsing with life around him. Could this be a nursery?

Somehow he awakens through my telepathic commands. He springs to life, one of those dreadful orange/white assault rifles in his hands. What are you doing here? He says.

I am lost, I reply, why are you here I ask.

Marcus lowers the rifle: our leadership, gone, he says. It is up to him to lead now and to take control of the ship. But he explains that it is only the 'leaders' who can operate this vessel, through their genetics and when they die the vessel also 'dies'

So we are stranded, he tells me.

No you are safe, I tell him, South Africa will always welcome you as one of us. He waves a palm over the wall. A three dimensional projection 'floats' out of the metal. The image is a globe with continents. The position of the ship relative to this planet puts it over...

Johannesburg.

This is my home and it is called Earth I say, in time it will be your home too.

We will leave when we repair our ship, he promises, but thank you. What of the dead and dying, I query. Drones Marcus tells me, easily replaced. He gestures to the egg pods. Then a circle is cut in the wall and bright light floods in...

I come back in my room, sunlight dancing over my body. But it is in no way as hot as that ship!

I step to the window and have a look: the mother ship is still there as usual. But now I know why they were all totally impoverished when we found them: that ship was hell.

TV pictures beamed around the country in 1982 had showed piles of those who had not made it off the ship alive and stretchers bearing many more sickly aliens to hospitals. Dad had told me about how difficult it was treating them as none of the doctors at Johannesburg Central Infirmary knew a thing about alien anatomy. Many more of them died while others were shipped off to military camps.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-Jason

I had first discovered Jason when assigned to keep order at a public bathing facility used by the aliens in District 9. I say 'order' because they all had an incredible knack for getting into tussles by queue jumping, looking at each other the wrong way or simply scrapping for entertainment.

Jason stood out because he too seemed to want to keep order, separating the warring parties and admonishing those who had simply watched. And his kids...he was the only one who brought youngsters to the baths. And oddly enough not ONE of the others EVER tried to harm them.

'Makes you fucking sick just watching them don't it Mike' Martha Keenan turned to me as we stood and watched the lines moving through the water.

'You know around how quickly they reproduce and all...' she added.

As a woman I thought Keenan would have had sympathy for parents struggling to raise their children in this harsh environment, why were Jason and his offspring different?

'They have to survive somehow' I finally replied.

'Unfortunately for us and the taxpayers, yeah'

Men from the city sanitation department continually hosed down aliens, to laughter from other MNU guards and refilled the pool.

'What a waste of water' muttered Keenan.

'Martha, can I please ask you something?'

'Go for it'

'Why do you hate the prawns so badly, I mean you and the other guys?'

I was the newest recruit to the team.

'Do you ever look around you or read the news Mike?'

'Well yeah but...'

'Then there is your answer. We lost a lot of good guys out here, GOOD guys with families, all to these animals!'

'That must be hard...'

'And you would know about hardship being from Cape Town and all'

'Fuck you Keenan Johannesburg doesn't have the monopoly on being shit you know!'

'Relax Mike I am just pulling your chain. Say does that prawn kid know you or something, he is waving'

No!

Emily in all her childish innocence had begun to gesture to me. But Jason ushered her on.

'Not likely, you think I associate with them now?'

Keenan didn't answer.

Back at the 'ranch' (what the guys called our little barracks) Johnny Price and Thimbu Sawed had some cold beers waiting on the table for us. Keenan dived in with gusto but I didn't really fancy it.

'Aw come on Mike, you have to let your hair down sometime' Sawed laughed.

'Drinking on duty? But what would Kruger have to say?'

'Kruger who...' Keenan answered.

Oh yes Colonel Kruger, our illustrious leader, didn't mention him did I? Sounds Afrikaner but actually has French heritage. Is generally a lazy son of a gun but is not past kicking the shit out of any non-human who crosses his path. He was hired for his ruthless ability to pursue rogue aliens and his strange ability to understand their language, wholly and completely.

'Some say he is nuts' Paul told me once.

'You are okay guys but thanks anyway. I am going to hop in a truck and see what's out there'

And off I went, with the words of Martha Keenan in my mind.

'What do you think you are going to find out there?' and 'Jesus that guys a dipshit' supposedly muttered out of earshot.

Those guys were unbelievable, sitting on their asses and drinking alcohol! I reckoned they would break out the cards by the time I had gotten back. But fuck it, I LIKED being outdoors.

The Hilux came to life with a growl and I slammed into first, kicking up a dust cloud as I fishtailed away. Today was warm and breezy and I let it wash over me through the window. When out alone (I was only just certified for Lone Patrol status) I kept my helmet off so the aliens could see my face, could KNOW who I was and that I wasn't bad.

My radio chirped to life.

'Mike here' I answered.

'Got a welfare check for you if you are interested, north part of sector 21, shack EC-2879'

'Ok show me en route'

I scanned the rows of shacks as I passed by. A larger white vehicle was parked near to 2879: it was an MNU Caspir.

What were the heavy duty boys doing here? Surprisingly it was one guy alone driving the truck.

'What's the story here?' I said as I climbed out of the Hilux.

'Was passing through this area and I got flagged down, the guy inside hasn't been seen for a week now, according to his neighbours'

I looked and saw a legless human being pushed in a battered wheelchair by a scruffy looking non-human. The alien was gesturing wildly to his partner, who nodded in assent.

'Maybe he's at work?'

'Not fucking likely man, have you smelled the place?'

It certainly smelled ripe, that was for sure.

'Ok let's take a look'

I gently pushed the door in with the barrel of my CR-21. A cloud of flies blew out of the door but nobody went for me.

'Fucking hell it's stinks of...well I don't know but it does!'

'Yeah you are right' the other guy, Gibbons, said.

Whoever had occupied this place had been in hurry and had left a while ago.

Rotten meat and piles of assorted junk littered the place, from car parts and children's toys to road signs.

'You ever think these guys are like hoarders or something Gibbons? Here is the weirdest shit you have ever seen!' I laughed.

'I guess it's like those killers who collect shoes or something right?' he said, nosing through some old pornographic magazines.

But beneath the ordinary day to day stuff I spotted something else: rifle clips, specifically banana shaped AK-47 clips and lots of them.

Moving away piles of junk I found lots of assault rifles and handguns in various states of disrepair. Under the soil floor of the shack I saw a dull metal box half-buried.

'Hey Gibbons get your nose out of Playgirl and help me with this would you'

Together we lifted what seemed like a heavy chest out of the ground. Gibbons peered inside.

'Man oh man, look at this treasure trove! Long John Prawn is going to regret leaving this behind'

I could see a number of alien Buck Roger's ray guns, plus a few I didn't recognise. There were other objects in there as well, all black, orange or white and decorated with those funny symbols.

But there was no sign of the owner and I doubted there would ever be. If tech like this was simply lying about in one shack, what could be in the entire district?

'I got to get a retrieval team out, that stuff could be dangerous'

'It's ok I will take it in, no problem, I want to catalogue it first'

'Right well it's your risk but fine, take it'

'Thanks Gibbons, appreciate your help'

'Man if there is any more of that shit...' he said as he walked away.

'Then humanity is in big fucking trouble' I whispered.

I took the box to the MNU field HQ, the guys were ecstatic that I found something that big.

'Man you are going to get promoted Mike!' Max beamed.

'Not likely but...'

'Aw don't be such a piss ant' Keenan laughed 'look at this stuff!'

'Bet the Nigerians would trade their own mothers for this shit' Thawed grinned.

'Yeah except it is useless to them, like wall decorations...' Max replied.

I couldn't be fucked to listen to this all day, so I headed out again. Jason's shack was not far away and as it was growing dark, I stopped by.

I waved as an MNU helicopter flew over and traced his spotlight over me.

'Assholes, don't they ever sleep' I muttered.

When I knocked, Jason admitted me right away, glancing nervously out of the door as he always did when I came.

'Got something for you' I said, jogging back to the Hilux.

I came back with my old gym bag, within which I had 'liberated' a couple of items from the abandoned shack.

Jason seemed to disapprove when I laid them out on the table, clicking nervously, but Marcus beamed.

'Where did you find these?' he asked.

'In a derelict shack, one sector over'

Marcus picked up and cradled each weapon, like he had found a lost lover or child.

'Pulse disruptor cannon' he said proudly, holding out an orange and black monstrosity to me.

I cradled it.

For the size of the thing it was surprisingly lightweight.

'Works like your electromagnetic pulse weapons' said Jason 'except that this can also affect the central nervous system of sentient beings'

'Is often used to control unruly drones...back home' Marcus added.

The other weapons were all ones I had seen in training or had seized in other 'welfare' operations.

'This is a most generous bounty' Marcus commented.

'One which we would be wise to not accept' said Jason.

'So you are happy for them to steal our technology and use it against us?' Marcus said, clearly annoyed.

'Do not trouble yourself with those thoughts it will be years before they can learn to operate these weapons' Jason replied calmly.

'I trust no human...'

Marcus turned to me, regretful.

'I mean...they are cleverer than we credit them with being!'

Jason relented.

'Then keep them here, but hide them well!'

'We thank you Mike' he went on.

'Hey anytime, I would rather those lab boys didn't get their greasy mitts on your property! Where are the kids anyhow?'

'Out to play, out to forage. They can take care of themselves I am sure' Marcus answered.

And so I decided it was best to leave then and come again soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-The Lab Rat

For what seemed like forever (at least twenty five years in fact) Dad held down his position at MNU studying, researching and documenting every single aspect of the non-human biology, psychology and culture.

At first it had started out as purely attempting to communicate with and understand the mindset of the aliens. But in time attitudes to the newcomers had changed; while some saw them as hopeless scavengers many more people saw them as an opportunity.

Just like MNU for instance.

If you were blind or stupid then the fact that the MNU Weapons Research and Development Bureau (merged with the Psychological Studies Division, much to the chagrin of my dad) taking a special interest in alien technology would not have passed you by. And it was a bad sign that efforts were accelerating (dad told me all of this freely) to gather up and run experiments on this stuff.

I stopped into the lab one day to see dad, just before I went on shift.

'Hey there dad, are you keeping busy?'

He looked up from his computer.

'Always son, always, how are you doing with the new job?'

I thought about this for awhile.

'Fine I guess...the unit is stocked with assholes though, all dedicating to swaggering about pointing guns and beating down on the prawns...I mean non-humans'

Dad laughed at me.

'It's ok you can call them what you like around me. But it is a tough job that you all have, keeping a fragile peace out there'

'That's the thing though I don't think they WANT to keep any peace. They seem to be about war'

'Ah that would be Colonel Kruger coming through, he is indirectly influenced by that Venter character don't you know?'

I couldn't place the name at first. Then it struck me: Venter was the guy with the mean goatee!

'Kruger is rather unsophisticated in his approach to non-human management' dad went on 'he thinks violence is THE way to keep them in line, not just one of many options'

'What do you think dad?'

He paused to reflect, as if looking back through time itself for answers.

'At first I might have agreed with him: you have a million or so aimless extraterrestrials with little self-discipline and even less hesitation to resort to violence, so how do you tame them?'

'Well you beat the shit out of them, like they did on TV, or shoot them...'

'Right but like the proverbial hornet's nest, when you kill one and a distress signal is sent out...'

'You seem to get a surge of angry aliens wanting to rip you up'

'Exactly, but let's not presume for a moment that's the only way they work'

Dad dropped his voice to a conspiracy-like volume.

'Chris Madsen was no random killing or accident, you see they probably REMEMBERED him and planned to take him out all along!'

'And if you pair up an angry hornet with a powerful energy weapon...Christ!'

'You see our mistake was to overestimate them at first, without leadership they were simply lost. But now we are complacent and underestimate them, somehow they are beginning to develop a level of leadership unseen by humanity!'

'So you think we might have a War of the Worlds thing happening?'

Dad laughed again.

'Unlikely but we are going to have more in the way of problems if their population becomes...restless'

I told him about the weapons haul I found and giving some of it to Jason.

'Do you trust this being?' he asked me.

'Yeah more than...well you know'

'Yes humanity you mean?'

I nodded.

'Be careful about how you tread son'

'I will don't worry but I wanted to ask you something in the meantime'

He motioned for me to sit.

'A few nights ago I had a dream, I was on their planet at first and then I somehow made it onto the mother ship as they arrived here. You had been aboard the craft back in the beginning, what was it like?'

'I went on two expeditions actually, the first in '82 and the second a year later. I told your mother this until she became bored of it but I had honestly never seen anything like it! The ship struck me as a simple transport vessel with an oversized population which had suffered a catastrophic breakdown or total loss of leadership. In time this absence of any direction meant the population went into some kind of hibernation state. So if you imagine that the crew of a 747 suddenly died and the ordinary passengers were left to fly and land the thing...'

'Then I would be fucked' I said.

'You and I both but fortunately this vessel had an override feature that allowed it to come here automatically. When we broke in it was a right mess with mounds of rubbish, lots of dead aliens and a surviving populace who were too malnourished or diseased to even raise a hand in our direction leave alone a gun'

'Wow that must have been something'

'It sure was, some of the more merciful soldiers dispatched those aliens too sick to move. When we came across eggs that hadn't hatched yet, we moved them out first. Most of the aliens simply watched us go about our work. Then we began a general evacuation and cleanup operation, which took a few weeks in all. Once that was complete and we had started up the refugee camp, the government came in and took formal ownership of the vessel, instructing us to begin fully surveying it'

'Was it alive...I mean still operational?' I said, getting all excited like when I was a kid and he told all these fantastic facts about the aliens-next-door.

'It seemed to be in a dormant state, operational to those with the knowhow but otherwise we did not understand how it stayed up there. The best minds in the world could not explain the workings of that thing and still can't! Plus it looked to have been damaged in some unknown skirmish, perhaps explaining why it came to Earth in the first place. There seemed to be convicts on the vessel too, owing to our later discovering a prison-like structure in the central core complete with the odd alien or two. And the armaments too, God they were scattered everywhere like discarded toys! Thousands upon thousands of them, along with an armoury or two within the ship'

'Did you let the aliens back up there?'

'Yes we brought along those who we thought were 'brighter' than others and instructed them to show us how it all worked. But honest to Christ, between our communication difficulties and their lack of knowledge, they did not have a clue what any of it did!'

'Or they were having you on?'

'Could be yes but either way that was that, we had little to go on from there on in'

I didn't want to interrogate him but we never had this conversation years ago and I thought now was the right time.

'What happened on your second expedition in 1983?'

'Pretty much the same, we took a new batch of non-humans with us and they showed us a few parts of the ship we had never seen. They also seemed to indicate that a part of the ship was now missing. But it was then that the government decided to seal it off and deny us any more access on board, even though MNU was coming online and acting like the highest bidder to take ownership. So it was with great regret that we left the ship for the last time...'

Then I realised it was time for work again.


End file.
